From: "John Beamish" 

I missed the first week (and half of the cycling drama) but followed it
afterwards -- especially the last week.

We got to see twice each day:  in the morning ("live") with Phil
Leggett and Paul Sherwin providing excellent commentary and in the evening
with the same video feed but much of Phil and Paul edited out and two other
guys (whose commentary was so "homer" that it was annoying --
and, I'm sure to many Americans it was cringe-inducing -- that V and I
often turned the sound off).

As for the drugs, chemical/biological enhancement these days is so far
ahead of the chem/bio detection that you have to be really dumb to get
caught.  As Ben Johnson's doctor once observed (regarding a question about
other athletes taking drugs):  the playing field was always level -- it
just wasn't at the level where you thought it was.

Landis might very well return successfully.  There's a new hip replacement
technique that takes much longer to perform but, since it is the equivalent
of keyhole surgery, recovery is faster and more complete. Which brings up
the obvious question:  if he does return and is successful, is an
artificial hip a legal advantage?

Finally, I thought my brother summed it up well:  he said athletes at that
level in that sport are simply beasts and he doesn't know how they do it.
And he's got an inside edge:  his son works for Parlee Cycles in Boston and
was involved in getting some bikes set up for Armstrong's team to test. 
For a variety of reasons, Armstrong stayed with Trek -- but it wasn't
because of the quality differential in the bikes.

btw -- if you want to buy a Parlee bike you might be interested in knowing
that their composite is Airbus composite:  when Airbus orders some, the
manufacturer sells "off cuts" to Parlee.

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:56:40 -0400, Richard B.  wrote:

> On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 21:54:44 -0400, "John Beamish"
>  wrote:
>
>> If you haven't been watching Floyd Landis then you have missed what is
>> truly one of the most remarkable sport performances.
>
> Unfortunately no one got killed in the ensuing riot so few watched it.
> ;-)  I am glad to see the active cleaning up of the sport's drug
> stain.
>
> It was a great tour, I think quite a few didn't watch it because Lance
> had retired...if so they missed a remarkable event.  I am not a
> cyclist but it's a short stretch to understand what physical mountains
> these athletes move day after day, week after week, in this grueling
> race.
>
> Whether or not Floyd can return to this high level after the hip
> replacement is questionable, I've not heard of anyone who has come
> close.  But it anyone can do it, I'd put my wager on him.
>
> I suppose this is the end of the line for Jan Ullrich.
>
> - Richard

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